Disabled hockey is comprised of athletes of all abilities and ages. There are six disabled disciplines supported by USA Hockey: blind, deaf/hard of hearing, sled, special, standing/amputee and Warrior Hockey.
Blind hockey allows legally blind athletes to participate in the game, while the deaf/hard of hearing discipline gives athletes diagnosed with a hearing loss the same opportunity. Sled or sledge hockey follows many of the typical rules of hockey while athletes play in specially designed sleds, affording athletes with a wide variety of disabilities the opportunity to play.
Special hockey focuses on making hockey accessible for athletes with a wide range of physical and developmental disabilities. The standing/amputee discipline allows athletes with amputations, congenital or acquired, or other physical impairments the ability to play. Finally, Warrior Hockey is dedicated to making hockey an option for injured and disabled U.S. Military Veterans.
Though each discipline has specific regulations and requirements, the goal remains the same - to ensure there is a place for everyone in hockey.
"The disabled section is really comprised of athletes of all abilities, all ages and almost all of whom have faced significant adversity in their life. For many of them, hockey is their outlet," Palmer said. "This is their opportunity to relate positively to similarly abled individuals. This gives kids the chance to go out there and be like Dylan Larkin, like Tyler Bertuzzi."
The impact of disabled hockey extends past the athletes, themselves, to their families and builds a community of individuals with shared experiences.
"Not only does it have its recreational and health benefits of being healthy and active, but it also gives these kids and their families the opportunity to have social activity," Palmer said. "It gets them out in the community in a safe environment. These kids get involved on a team and the whole family is impacted. They take pride, they get to wear their hockey jacket, wear it proudly and it's contagious."
In Palmer's role as Director of Disabled Hockey, he is focused on building awareness and growing the game for all abilities. Growth of established organizations and helping develop new teams are top of mind for Palmer.
"In Michigan, we have a great opportunity, being a hockey hotbed, to build a strong network of affiliate organizations that support each other," Palmer said. "We really want to see growth across all the disciplines and hopefully add new programs that we haven't previously had an impact in our community, like blind hockey. It really is about growing the game in its simplest form."
